Russian special forces sent to back renegade Libyan general – reports

Deployment may be in support of Khalifa Haftar, whose forces have retaken two oil ports as fighting breaks out again in Tripoli

Russia appears to have deployed special forces to an airbase in western Egypt near the border with Libya in recent days, in a move that adds to US concerns about Moscow’s deepening role in Libya.

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The news came as renewed violence broke out around key oil terminals in the east of the country and the capital Tripoli.
US and diplomatic officials said any such Russian involvement might be part of an attempt to support the Libyan military commander, Khalifa Haftar, who suffered a setback on 3 March with an attack by the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) on oil ports controlled by his forces.

Late on Tuesday, the speaker of Libya’s eastern parliament said Russia had promised military aid to the breakaway government that Haftar supports. Agila Saleh told Russia’s state RIA Novosti news agency that the eastern parliament had requesting training and military repair support from Moscow. Libya falls back into civil war as rival sides fight to control oil terminals

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The Russian defence ministry denied Moscow had deployed special forces in Egypt. “Certain western mass media have been stirring up the public for years with such false information from anonymous sources,” the ministry’s spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
Several politicians also denied the report, suggesting it was meant to smear Russia. Also speaking to RIA Novosti, senator Vladimir Dzhabarov called it “fake news” and part of an information war that “everyone is now waging against everyone else”.
Andrei Krasov, the first deputy head of the defence committee in the lower house of parliament, said it was part of the “demonisation” of Russia for its successful military action in Syria.
The Libyan president of the house of representatives, however, told RIA Novosti that Russia was assisting Haftar’s forces in other ways.